Improved ditching-machine



l this scoop represented by the letter-E.

.i This opening or throat-way is intended for the pas- @was @mw NATHANIEL B. Lewis,l or HoPnWELn-NW vous.

Letters Patent No. 94,901,

dated SeptemberM, 1869.

IMPRovI-:D ,nITcING-MAGHINE.

Be itknown that I, NATHANIEL B. LEWIS, of Hopewell, in the county of O ntario,and State of New York, have invented a new and valuable Improvement in Machines Afor Maki ng*Ditches, Sluices, Sac.; and I do i hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and

exact description of the construction and operation of the saine, reference being had to the annexedy drawings, making a part of this specification, and to the i letters and iigures of reference marked thereon.

-frameor body of my dit-cher fashioned somewhat in the-form of a carpenteiisplane.

. `It is usuallyconstructed of tworm -plank side pieces, with a front plank between them, as shown on lig. ltinarked letter B, the centre and the rea'r Vend being united by the means hereinafter described.

The lletteit() represents a roller afiixed to the front end o f the machine.

l The letters a representa series vof plows arranged in a diagonal position, as shown on fig. 2, the two outer.

-or rear plows being attached to the side pieces of the frame and intended to serve as the means formarking and forming the sides ofthe ditch.

i 'lheletterD represents a plane or scoop arranged in theframe like the bit of carpenters plane.

There is an opening or throat-way at the front of sage of thle earth upward, as hereinafter mentioned.

The scoop D'rests upon a block, marked G'on the drawings, and which is held `in place by suitable screws passing through the sides of the frame.

lhe letter H'represents a vroller arranged in the sides ofthe frame, and letter K a roller in thehandles of the machine.

I Y lh'ese rollers serve as a portion' ofthe means by i which the endless travelling platform is operated, as

hereinafter mentioned. The letterN represents adriving-wheel intended for running alongthe surface of the ground or Abottom of the ditch.

It is arranged on a shaft, c, that' rests and rotates in suitable journals'in the sides of the machine-frame' `and -forth in the same track.

The letter e represents abarrel-pinion aftixedto the shaft c, as shown; andthe letter s is a band connecting the pinion c with the roller.H.

The letter R represents an endless travellingr platform or elevator Yarranged to operate over vthe rollers HandK'.

' The letters vc are buckets affixed to the travelling platform R, and are intended for use in conveying the earth upward thereon.

The letter T represents an apron or chute arranged upon the frame'and connected with the handles, as shown, which serves as means for conducting the excavated earth from the rear end of platform R to the .sides of the ditch. i

It is constructed of one plate or more, rounded or pointed upward at the middle thereof, so as to form inclined shelves, for the pnrposementioned.

My handles are represented by the letter U. They are respectively hinged to the sides of the frame, as shown at d, and are adjustable upon the curved rods y, at different-heights, at the operator-s will.

.This method of adjustment sei-vesto make the handles accessible from the surface of the ground without regard to the depth of the machine in the ditch. f y

To operate my device, the machine is drawn `back The earth is plowed and pulverized by the plows a, and the sides ofthe ditch markediont. Theearth thus pulverized is then passed upward upon. the travelling platform and emptied upon the apron, from whence it is conducted to the sides of the ditch. It will readily be observed that the platform and apron are elevated at will by the elevation of thehandles, and thereby the apron always kept above tlie top of the ditch. What I claim-as my invention, and desireI to secure by Letters Patent, .is- The scoop D, rollers H and K, travelling-platform R, apron,` T, adjustable handles U, and driving-"wheel and pinion, as described, when constructed and arranged to operate 'substantially as and or the pui'-,

poses specified.

. In testimony that I claim -the above, I have hereunto subscribed my name, in the presence of two witnesses.

` NATHAN IEL B. LEWIS.

Witnesses Taos. A. WEAKLEY, J ons Lnwrs. 

